Hospice of Lenawee campaign crosses $4.5 million mark

ADRIAN TWP. — Hospice of Lenawee has received a donation that brought its capital campaign total to more than $4.5 million, hospice president Bill Kenyon said.

The gift was from a donor who already had just completed giving $5,000 a year during a five-year period and decided to add an extra $20,000, Kenyon said.

"We were very grateful for that, of course," Kenyon said.

That means the capital campaign has $490,000 to go to its $5 million goal, Kenyon said.

Kenyon did not name the donor who gave the extra $20,000. He said he keeps donors' names confidential unless they specifically give permission to use them.

All proceeds from the capital campaign go to pay for the building and furnishings at hospice's new facility on Wolf Creek Highway in Adrian Township, Kenyon said. The facility includes a hospice residential facility for patients who are too sick to receive care at home. This is the first time Hospice of Lenawee has been able to offer that service.

The new facility opened in February 2012 and the first residential patients were admitted in the summer.

Hospice used a long-term loan from United Bank & Trust to pay for the new building, Kenyon said. The final cost for the new facility will probably be close to $5.5 million, he said.

A provision in the recent "fiscal cliff" legislation allows people 701⁄2 years old or older to make charitable donations from traditional IRAs without paying tax on the money withdrawn for the donation, Kenyon said.

Previously, such withdrawals from traditional IRAs would have been taxed, he said.The capital campaign for the new facility began in 2008 and more than 900 donors have contributed, according to a news release.